- Title: CZECH REPUBLIC: Government faces no-confidence vote
- Date: 17th January 2013
- Summary: PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC (JANUARY 17, 2013) (REUTERS TV) WIDE OF HIGHWAY WITH BILLBOARD BILLBOARD ADVERTISING SHOWING BERNARD BEER (LEFT) READING IN CZECH: "THE WORLD IS GOING CRAZY, HOLD ON!" AND OUTGOING CZECH PRESIDENT VACLAV KLAUS (RIGHT) SWEEPING UP CORRUPTION CASES UNDER A CARPET WITH SLOGAN READING IN CZECH: "AMNESTY - CZECH WAY" WIDE OF BILLBOARD EXTERIOR OF PARLIAMENT BUILDING IN PRAGUE SIGN READING: "CZECH REPUBLIC PARLIAMENT" PARLIAMENT IN SESSION CZECH PRIME MINISTER PETR NECAS DISCUSSING WITH CZECH FOREIGN MINISTER KAREL SCHWARZENBERG (SOUNDBITE) (Czech) OPPOSITION SOCIAL DEMOCRATS (CSSD) LEADER BOHUSLAV SOBOTKA, SAYING: "All the public as well as the opposition are arguing with the form of the presidential amnesty because of the second paragraph which intervenes into extraordinary serious criminal cases. It mainly concerns the economic criminal cases." DEPUTIES CLAPPING ELECTRONIC BOARD ANNOUNCING THE CONFIDENCE VOTE (SOUNDBITE) (Czech) CZECH PRIME MINISTER PETR NECAS, SAYING: "The amnesty called by the president of the republic is counter-signed by the prime minister without discussion in the government." PARLIAMENT DEPUTIES FOLLOWING THE SPEECH (SOUNDBITE) (Czech) CZECH PRIME MINISTER PETR NECAS, SAYING: "This is only the attempt (by the opposition) to use the rough atmosphere which this amnesty caused inside the Czech society. It is absolutely not about the evaluation of the amnesty, these are political actions." DEPUTIES DISCUSSING PARLIAMENT DURING CONFIDENCE VOTE SESSION
- Embargoed: 1st February 2013 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Czech Republic
- Country: Czech Republic
- Topics: Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA5NNR8XE5RYSMLO04RSGHJWD2
- Story Text: The Czech government holds a no-confidence vote on Thursday (January 17) called by opposition lawmakers, following a controversial mass amnesty linked with fraud cases. The number of freed people - more than 7000 - makes up a third of all prisoners serving time in the Czech Republic.
"All the public as well as the opposition are arguing with the form of the presidential amnesty because of the second paragraph which intervenes into extraordinary serious criminal cases. It mainly concerns the economical criminal cases," Bohuslav Sobotka, leader of the opposition Social Democrats (CSSD) told the parliament during its extraordinary session on Thursday.
Czech Prime Necas counter-signed the amnesty decreed by outgoing President Vaclav Klaus on January 1.
"The amnesty called by the President of the Republic is counter-signed by the prime minister without discussion in the government," said Necas.
"This is only the attempt (by the opposition) to use the rough atmosphere which this amnesty caused inside the Czech society. It is absolutely not about the evaluation of the amnesty, these are political actions," he added.
The Opposition needs at least 101 votes in the 200-seat parliament in order to get the no-confidence vote through, but Necas' right-leaning cabinet so far has survived seven confidence votes since taking office in 2010.
The parliament session continues and the outcome of the no-confidence vote is expected earliest during the afternoon. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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